In the past two decades she's been nominated for 13 Emmys: seven (and one win) for supporting actress in Seinfeld as second-banana Elaine; five (and one win) for best actress as a second-rate ex-spouse in The New Adventures of Old Christine;and, last year, a win for best actress in her latest role, second in line to the leader of the free world in Veep.

She's Vice President Selina Meyer in the HBO comedy series, which returns for its second season Sunday (10 p.m. ET/PT). Viewers pick up her story on a bus tour during mid-term elections as she is stumping and making speeches at rallies for congressional candidates.

Louis-Dreyfus knows better than to take the role too seriously. "To me, the best thing is to tap into her narcissism and frustrations combined," the actress says. "It's just a really yummy area to tell stories and good jokes."

While the VP's and the administration's party affiliation remains obscured on purpose, the issues she and her staffers face are familiar to those who follow Washington headlines. The new season has more scenes of Meyer in the White House in closer proximity to POTUS, and her problems grow as the series touches on foreign policy, a hostage crisis and a government shutdown.

Louis-Dreyfus knows exactly what her character is about: "Selina Meyer is a political animal. She is someone who has been in politics for 20 years. She's hugely ambitious. She's very driven. She has had many disappointments along the way, and successes."

But Meyer had wanted to be president. "She never desired to be vice president, and yet she finds herself in this position,'' says Louis-Dreyfus. "She's trying to negotiate and navigate the waters of the executive branch as best she can."

In its freshman term, Veep averaged 1 million viewers for original broadcasts, and 4 million per episode after factoring in DVR and on-demand viewing and repeat airings. This season, two new actors join the cast: Gary Cole (who played the vice president in The West Wing) as an antagonistic White House senior strategist, and Kevin Dunn as White House chief of staff. And we get to learn more about Meyer's daughter and ex-husband.

Even in today's politically charged world, Louis-Dreyfus never worried about combining politics with comedy. "I knew they would work," she says. "Before it was even written, (when) I heard the show being developed at HBO, I thought it sounded so right for comedy."

It helps that the show lives at HBO, with the pay cable channel's longer leashes for writers and producers. "We're completely left to our own devices. And that is a gift,'' she says. "That's not to say that we don't get notes on scripts. But because there's such a built-in respect for the process, when those comments come, we listen. The people that give them are very bright, intelligent and thoughtful."

Veep creator Armando Iannucci, a Scottish writer and comedian who created the British political satire In the Loop, says that "In many ways it reminds me of working at the BBC seven or eight years ago. It's that kind of idea where once it's agreed, you go off to get on with it. You're trusted to make it."

And that includes the vice president's far-from-politically-correct language. "You know, I'm a big swearer," Louis-Dreyfus admits. "But I don't swear quite as colorfully, and I certainly don't swear quite as frequently."